The round trunk of young specimens resemble a pineapple. The leaf bases are distinctively diamond-shaped. Numerous olive-green leaves from an impressive crown. The lower leaflets are modified into sharp spines.
Its showy red fruit display provides Christmas decoration in South Florida. Leaflets are pointed at the tip. Often planted as a multiple specimen.
The large-crowned Bismarck is one of the most beautiful and desirable fan palms for the subtropics, particularly the silver-leafed forms.